Issued on: 08/09/2026
US President Donald Trump shared an AI-generated map Monday appearing to show the US absorbing Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Iceland, Cuba and parts of the Caribbean into a giant “United States of America”. Shared without context, the post sparked diplomatic backlash. Iceland summoned its ambassador and Mexico defended its sovereignty. Denmark also pushed back over Greenland. Online, the map has triggered widespread ridicule and questions about Trump’s fitness for office.
The map, posted on Truth Social without a caption or explanation, redrew continental North America in the US flag’s stars and stripes. Canada and Mexico appear annexed within US territory, alongside Greenland and Iceland. Meanwhile Cuba, Jamaica and several French Caribbean territories, including Martinique and Guadeloupe, are also depicted as part of the United States.
The map labels the enlarged territory simply as the “United States of America”, while the Gulf of Mexico is shown as the “Gulf of America," in line with Trump's January executive order to rename it.
It is unclear whether the post was intended as a joke, an attempt to provoke foreign governments or simply to generate attention, but it comes against a backdrop of increasingly provocative territorial rhetoric from the US president.
Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of making Canada the 51st US state, angering officials in Ottawa amid an escalating trade dispute. He has also expressed interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark and has spoken of the United States “taking back” the Panama Canal.
The latest map goes further, however, appearing to bring countries and territories including Mexico, Iceland and French Caribbean islands into Trump’s imagined US borders.
Trump’s AI ‘conquest’ map sparks diplomatic backlash
The response from some of the countries depicted was swift. Iceland said it had summoned the US ambassador for a meeting, describing the post as “entirely inappropriate”.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was equally unequivocal, saying Mexico would neither be a colony nor a protectorate of another country. “We are a free, independent and sovereign nation,” she posted on X.
Denmark, meanwhile, reiterated its opposition to any US takeover of Greenland, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen telling reporters that both Greenland’s government and its people had repeatedly made clear that they did not want to become American.
Mockery online
Trump's latest map-making has also generated widespread ridicule online, alongside renewed speculation about Trump’s fitness for office.
California state Senator Scott Wiener called the behaviour "unbelievably dangerous" and accused Trump of having a "serious brain disease, whether dementia or something else", while other social media users mocked the president for posting what they described as imaginary maps after spending years criticising Joe Biden over his age.
These reactions were amplified as Trump, over the weekend shared an avalanche of posts at breakneck speed. According to an AFP count, Trump posted 60 times on Sunday alone, followed by another 37 posts in roughly 10 hours on Monday. Many featured AI-generated or AI-manipulated imagery.
The series of posts included one claiming that even the Moon belonged to the US, as well as a string of images renaming the state of New Mexico to "New America", prompting an angry reaction from the state's governor.
Users also declared Trump's online behaviour would be concerning if it came from an elderly relative, and Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree argued that Republicans should be asking whether Trump is fit to remain in office.
Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.
The map, posted on Truth Social without a caption or explanation, redrew continental North America in the US flag’s stars and stripes. Canada and Mexico appear annexed within US territory, alongside Greenland and Iceland. Meanwhile Cuba, Jamaica and several French Caribbean territories, including Martinique and Guadeloupe, are also depicted as part of the United States.
The map labels the enlarged territory simply as the “United States of America”, while the Gulf of Mexico is shown as the “Gulf of America," in line with Trump's January executive order to rename it.
It is unclear whether the post was intended as a joke, an attempt to provoke foreign governments or simply to generate attention, but it comes against a backdrop of increasingly provocative territorial rhetoric from the US president.
Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of making Canada the 51st US state, angering officials in Ottawa amid an escalating trade dispute. He has also expressed interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark and has spoken of the United States “taking back” the Panama Canal.
The latest map goes further, however, appearing to bring countries and territories including Mexico, Iceland and French Caribbean islands into Trump’s imagined US borders.
Trump’s AI ‘conquest’ map sparks diplomatic backlash
The response from some of the countries depicted was swift. Iceland said it had summoned the US ambassador for a meeting, describing the post as “entirely inappropriate”.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum was equally unequivocal, saying Mexico would neither be a colony nor a protectorate of another country. “We are a free, independent and sovereign nation,” she posted on X.
Denmark, meanwhile, reiterated its opposition to any US takeover of Greenland, with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen telling reporters that both Greenland’s government and its people had repeatedly made clear that they did not want to become American.
Mockery online
Trump's latest map-making has also generated widespread ridicule online, alongside renewed speculation about Trump’s fitness for office.
California state Senator Scott Wiener called the behaviour "unbelievably dangerous" and accused Trump of having a "serious brain disease, whether dementia or something else", while other social media users mocked the president for posting what they described as imaginary maps after spending years criticising Joe Biden over his age.
These reactions were amplified as Trump, over the weekend shared an avalanche of posts at breakneck speed. According to an AFP count, Trump posted 60 times on Sunday alone, followed by another 37 posts in roughly 10 hours on Monday. Many featured AI-generated or AI-manipulated imagery.
The series of posts included one claiming that even the Moon belonged to the US, as well as a string of images renaming the state of New Mexico to "New America", prompting an angry reaction from the state's governor.
Users also declared Trump's online behaviour would be concerning if it came from an elderly relative, and Maine Congresswoman Chellie Pingree argued that Republicans should be asking whether Trump is fit to remain in office.
Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.
‘Absolutely Bonkers’ and ‘Unacceptable’: Trump Posts Map Showing US Takeovers of Other Nations
“As always, he is telling us what the plan is,” said one critic. “We must take it seriously.”
President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform a map showing the US flag over not only the United States but also Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Caribbean, Mexico, and multiple countries in Central America.
(Image via President Donald Trump/Truth Social)
Jessica Corbett
Sep 07, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
US President Donald Trump has spent his second term threatening takeovers of various other countries, from Canada and Cuba to Greenland, and on Monday he shared on social media a map that fueled fresh fears of his imperialist “Donroe Doctrine.”
The map on Trump’s Truth Social platform shows the US flag over not only the United States but also Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, and multiple countries in Central America and the Caribbean.
The post was swiftly condemned across platforms, with Congressman Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) declaring that “this is unacceptable.”
Journalist Stephen Robinson wrote on X that “another world leader posting something like this would have to apologize before their immediate removal.”
Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot and former Democratic US Senate candidate from Kentucky, wondered, “What would we do and say if the Chinese president posted a map of China taking over the Western Pacific?”
Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations and former prime minister of Sweden, similarly said: “What would happen if Xi Jinping posted a map where [China] has taken over all of East Asia, and [President Vladimir] Putin one of [Russia] having absorbed all of Western Europe? It would have been seen as either insane or dangerous—or both.”
While some critics called Trump “absolutely bonkers” and “f*cking insane,” Dr. Brian Goldman, a Canadian emergency physician who’s also an author and broadcaster, asserted: “That’s not insanity. That’s intention.”
Democratic strategist Michelle Kinney agreed, saying: “As always, he is telling us what the plan is. We must take it seriously.”
Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, suggested that “the reason why Republicans attack education is so that people don’t recognize the history that repeats itself.”
Without directly mentioning Trump or his map, Mexican President Sheinbaum said in Spanish on Monday, “We reaffirm that Mexico is neither nor will be a colony or protectorate of any foreign country. Proudly we are a free, independent, and sovereign nation.”
While Trump is a prolific poster, the map followed a series of posts from Sunday—including other maps and images produced with artificial intelligence—that led progressive influencer Harry Sisson to conclude that the president was “having a mental health episode online” and call for his removal from office.
“This man is unwell. 25th Amendment NOW,” Sisson said, cataloging posts on a range of topics, from Trump’s recent renaming of Lake Ontario amid tough trade talks with Canada, to the suggestion that New Mexico should be dubbed “New America.”
The latter was ripped by several Democratic officials, including New Mexico’s governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, who responded that her state’s name “isn’t up for debate—it’s been ours since before the United States existed.”
“What is up for debate? Who’s showing up for working families,” she continued. “While the president tries to distract Americans from his disastrous war in Iran, gas prices keep soaring. Americans are also spending more at the grocery store, losing access to healthcare and wondering if they’ll ever be able to afford a home. Under Democratic leadership here in New Mexico, we’re providing families with free childcare and college, protecting access to healthcare, and investing in housing. While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work.”
In addition to waging an illegal war on Iran, Trump this term has invaded Venezuela to abduct President Nicolás Maduro and take control of the country’s oil reserves, become the US commander-in-chief to bomb the most countries, and killed over 225 people by blowing up boats allegedly smuggling drugs through international waters. He’s also threatened to seize the Panama Canal and possibly attack nations including Colombia and Mexico.
As Iran has responded to Trump’s war by restricting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the president has teased declaring the key waterway a US territory and naming it after himself. He’s also dubbed the Gulf of Mexico “the Gulf of America” and fought to put his name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
With the US midterm elections less than two months away, some Democrats in Congress have stepped up their critiques of Trump’s foreign policy—including a delegation of progressive congressional lawmakers and candidates who headed to Uruguay last month for the third Pan-American Congress.
Shortly after that gathering, delegation member Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) stressed that “progressives reject the violent, imperialistic Donroe Doctrine, and believe in a foreign policy rooted in cooperation, diplomacy, and sovereign equality.”
“As always, he is telling us what the plan is,” said one critic. “We must take it seriously.”
President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform a map showing the US flag over not only the United States but also Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Caribbean, Mexico, and multiple countries in Central America.
(Image via President Donald Trump/Truth Social)
Jessica Corbett
Sep 07, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
US President Donald Trump has spent his second term threatening takeovers of various other countries, from Canada and Cuba to Greenland, and on Monday he shared on social media a map that fueled fresh fears of his imperialist “Donroe Doctrine.”
The map on Trump’s Truth Social platform shows the US flag over not only the United States but also Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, and multiple countries in Central America and the Caribbean.
The post was swiftly condemned across platforms, with Congressman Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) declaring that “this is unacceptable.”
Journalist Stephen Robinson wrote on X that “another world leader posting something like this would have to apologize before their immediate removal.”
Amy McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot and former Democratic US Senate candidate from Kentucky, wondered, “What would we do and say if the Chinese president posted a map of China taking over the Western Pacific?”
Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations and former prime minister of Sweden, similarly said: “What would happen if Xi Jinping posted a map where [China] has taken over all of East Asia, and [President Vladimir] Putin one of [Russia] having absorbed all of Western Europe? It would have been seen as either insane or dangerous—or both.”
While some critics called Trump “absolutely bonkers” and “f*cking insane,” Dr. Brian Goldman, a Canadian emergency physician who’s also an author and broadcaster, asserted: “That’s not insanity. That’s intention.”
Democratic strategist Michelle Kinney agreed, saying: “As always, he is telling us what the plan is. We must take it seriously.”
Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, suggested that “the reason why Republicans attack education is so that people don’t recognize the history that repeats itself.”
Without directly mentioning Trump or his map, Mexican President Sheinbaum said in Spanish on Monday, “We reaffirm that Mexico is neither nor will be a colony or protectorate of any foreign country. Proudly we are a free, independent, and sovereign nation.”
While Trump is a prolific poster, the map followed a series of posts from Sunday—including other maps and images produced with artificial intelligence—that led progressive influencer Harry Sisson to conclude that the president was “having a mental health episode online” and call for his removal from office.
“This man is unwell. 25th Amendment NOW,” Sisson said, cataloging posts on a range of topics, from Trump’s recent renaming of Lake Ontario amid tough trade talks with Canada, to the suggestion that New Mexico should be dubbed “New America.”
The latter was ripped by several Democratic officials, including New Mexico’s governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, who responded that her state’s name “isn’t up for debate—it’s been ours since before the United States existed.”
“What is up for debate? Who’s showing up for working families,” she continued. “While the president tries to distract Americans from his disastrous war in Iran, gas prices keep soaring. Americans are also spending more at the grocery store, losing access to healthcare and wondering if they’ll ever be able to afford a home. Under Democratic leadership here in New Mexico, we’re providing families with free childcare and college, protecting access to healthcare, and investing in housing. While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work.”
In addition to waging an illegal war on Iran, Trump this term has invaded Venezuela to abduct President Nicolás Maduro and take control of the country’s oil reserves, become the US commander-in-chief to bomb the most countries, and killed over 225 people by blowing up boats allegedly smuggling drugs through international waters. He’s also threatened to seize the Panama Canal and possibly attack nations including Colombia and Mexico.
As Iran has responded to Trump’s war by restricting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the president has teased declaring the key waterway a US territory and naming it after himself. He’s also dubbed the Gulf of Mexico “the Gulf of America” and fought to put his name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
With the US midterm elections less than two months away, some Democrats in Congress have stepped up their critiques of Trump’s foreign policy—including a delegation of progressive congressional lawmakers and candidates who headed to Uruguay last month for the third Pan-American Congress.
Shortly after that gathering, delegation member Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) stressed that “progressives reject the violent, imperialistic Donroe Doctrine, and believe in a foreign policy rooted in cooperation, diplomacy, and sovereign equality.”
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